Executive Assistant Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 3,396 US job postings by 2,206 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for executive assistants: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 3,396 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for executive assistants in US job postings is $83,000 a year (817 postings from 557 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $69,000 to $105,000.
- The skills that most set executive assistant postings apart are discretion, powerpoint, outlook.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 4 years of experience.
Executive Assistant job postings in the US, October 2026
- $83,000
- Median advertised pay (817 postings)
- $69,000–$105,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 3,396
- US job postings from 2,206 employers
- 4 years
- Median experience asked
How much does an executive assistant make?
The median advertised pay is $83,000 a year, from 817 US job postings by 557 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $129,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 817 US executive assistant job postings: median $83,000 a year, middle half $69,000 to $105,000.
- Median: $83,000
- 25th percentile: $69,000
- 75th percentile: $105,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.1% |
| $30K–$40K | 1.5% |
| $40K–$50K | 5.4% |
| $50K–$60K | 6.9% |
| $60K–$70K | 12.9% |
| $70K–$80K | 17.8% |
| $80K–$90K | 11.0% |
| $90K–$100K | 13.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 9.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 6.4% |
| $120K–$130K | 5.4% |
| $130K–$140K | 2.2% |
| $140K–$150K | 1.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.5% |
| $160K–$170K | 0.6% |
| $170K–$180K | 0.4% |
| $180K–$190K | 0.9% |
| $190K–$200K | 1.0% |
| $200K–$210K | 0.4% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $90,000 | $73K–$110K | 603 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $83,000 | $69K–$105K | 817 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants (43-6011) at $77,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for an executive assistant?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying executive assistant jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Assistant (general) | $85,000 | 673 | 457 |
Executive assistant pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $98,000 | $77,000–$113,000 | 141 | 13.9% |
| California | $95,000 | $70,000–$122,000 | 148 | 17.8% |
Skills employers ask for in executive assistant job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 57% |
| Organizational skills | 51% |
| Excel | 47% |
| Attention to detail | 43% |
| Microsoft Office | 42% |
| Powerpoint | 40% |
| Word | 35% |
| Outlook | 34% |
| Discretion | 32% |
| Professionalism | 25% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set executive assistants apart
- Discretion43.6× as often as in all postings · 32%
- Powerpoint10.5× as often as in all postings · 40%
- Outlook8.4× as often as in all postings · 34%
- Excel4.5× as often as in all postings · 47%
- Organizational skills3.9× as often as in all postings · 51%
- Microsoft Office4.9× as often as in all postings · 42%
- Word6.2× as often as in all postings · 35%
- Attention to detail3.4× as often as in all postings · 43%
- Proactive12.9× as often as in all postings · 21%
- Professionalism7.6× as often as in all postings · 25%
- Confidentiality12.1× as often as in all postings · 17%
- Teams22.8× as often as in all postings · 14%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a executive assistant job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an executive assistant do?
Employers post these jobs as Executive Administrative Assistant, Senior Executive Assistant, Executive Assistant to the CEO, Personal Assistant, Executive Business Partner and other titles. The largest specializations are Executive Assistant to the CEO (8%), Personal Assistant (4%).
The closest official occupation is Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants (43-6011.00). Its most important tasks:
- Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
- Make travel arrangements for executives.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
- Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an executive assistant?
Among 1,580 postings that state a minimum, the median is 4 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 7% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,580 US executive assistant job postings: median 4 years, and 7% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 6% |
| 2 yrs | 14% |
| 3-4 yrs | 32% |
| 5-7 yrs | 39% |
| 8-9 yrs | 4% |
| 10+ yrs | 4% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 90%, Part-time 10% of the 438 postings that state working hours.
Other names for an executive assistant: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Executive Assistant | 1,341 (60.8%) |
| Executive Administrative Assistant | 201 (9.1%) |
| Senior Executive Assistant | 111 (5.0%) |
| Executive Assistant to the CEO | 56 (2.5%) |
| Personal Assistant | 43 (1.9%) |
| Executive Business Partner | 38 (1.7%) |
| Executive Assistant II | 34 (1.5%) |
| Executive Assistant to CEO | 32 (1.5%) |
| Executive Coordinator | 31 (1.4%) |
| Executive Assistant I | 28 (1.3%) |
| Executive Assistant to the President | 27 (1.2%) |
| Executive Support Specialist | 17 (0.8%) |
| Executive Assistant & Office Manager | 17 (0.8%) |
| Senior Executive Administrative Assistant | 16 (0.7%) |
| Executive Admin Assistant | 16 (0.7%) |
| Executive Personal Assistant | 16 (0.7%) |
| Sr. Executive Assistant | 15 (0.7%) |
| Administrative Business Partner | 14 (0.6%) |
| Executive Admin | 12 (0.5%) |
| Office Manager & Executive Assistant | 11 (0.5%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Executive assistant job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
Executive Assistant vs Executive Administrative Assistant
| Executive Assistant | Executive Administrative Assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| Open US postings | 1,916 | 269 |
| Employers | 1,341 | 201 |
| Median advertised pay | $82K | – |
| Median experience asked | 4 years | – |
| Skills that stand out | – | microsoft word |
Executive Assistant compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Assistant | $83K | 4 years | 3,396 | – |
| Administrative Assistant | $21.50/hr | 2 years | 14,117 | 18 |
| Office Manager | $23.31/hr | 2 years | 4,611 | 19 |
| Paralegal | $78K | 3 years | 4,474 | 20 |
| Event Coordinator | $62K | 2 years | 2,526 | 17 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Assistant | 18 | $21.50/hr |
| Office Manager | 19 | $23.31/hr |
| Paralegal | 20 | $78K |
| Event Coordinator | 17 | $62K |
| Fundraiser | 18 | $90K |
| Academic Advisor | 15 | – |
Applying for executive assistant jobs?
- Executive assistant resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find executive assistant jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does an executive assistant make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 18 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.